Question: How to make them eat earthworms?

[qannp]

Hi,

last saturday, I got 4 little axies. They're about 10cm now.

They refuse to eat earthworms, though I gave them really small ones. They accept only bloodworms.

I had axies before, and all of them loved earthworms.

I have the feeling that bloodworms aren't the best food for 3 month old. But they rather stay hungry than eating one little worm.

What would you do? I don't want to let them starve too long. At the same time, they have to accept other types of food.

What should I do?

 

[Skudo09]

What type of earthworms are you trying? Have you tried blanching the earthworm first (run it under hot water for a second and then under cold water)? Earthworms sometimes excrete a foul tasting substance. Blanching them first kills the worm and stops them excreting the substance. Also, you may have to stop offering any other items if they don't eat the earthworms as they will be more unlikely to take to the earthworms.

 

[qannp]

Thank you for the quick advice! I have nice, juicy redworms (Eisenia fetida), apparently a nasty tasting type.

No, I haven't tried blanching them yet, but I let the worms in the tank for hours, so the secretion should have been washed off. If they don't eat until evening, I'll give it a try. Poor worms. :sad:

Is this bad for the water? The smallest goldie looks stressed today, with the gills curling towards the nose. Since they're still under quarantine, I do 100% water changes daily.

How long can I let them starve before it is bad for them? I don't want to torture them.

 

[rachel1]

Mine refuse red wigglers even blanched. I would try another species of worm. Some people force the issue, and they will eat them it they get hungry enough, but I feel bad feeding them something that they clearly dislike.

 

[qannp]

That's plan B - digging the backyard over.

I wanted to avoid this, because we have a pond with frogs. Since I learned about BD, I don't want to take the food out of our garden.

My last axies died a year ago. The first one who had to be put to sleep (my beautiful goldie Pilpil) was diagnosed with BD, and so I emptied all my tanks, sterilized the water before pouring it away (about 1000 litres), and bought new stuff…it cost a fortune.

It turned out that the first diagnosis was wrong; it was bacterial infection of the digestive tract (wherever this came from, I still have no idea what went wrong after all these years). The local University of Veterinary medicine made a mistake. At this point, I had lost my two other girls Quetzalli and Atl, who were nearly six years old, too.

Though it wasn't BD, I'm filled with fear to go through all this again.

Anyway, redworms may taste bitter, but they're good food. If you're an axolotl.

How long could I continue with bloodworms before the axies are undernourished?

To add a little more variety to the menu, I already placed an order for live gammarus at my pet store, but I won't get them before wednesday. Unfortunately my feeder fish are sick and under treatment right now, so I can't take shrimps, fish or snails out of this tank before may or june.

 

[sebguy]

Mine refused to eat red worms for a good while but the second i put one the fat white ones
(Canadian nightcrawlers i think) in the tank they just snapped em right up.
so maybe try a different kind of worm?

 

[Darien]

I jerk the ends of my worms around right in front of my axolotls, they usually lunge at the worms and have them eaten within a few minutes.

 

[qannp]

@sebguy: I know Canadian Nightcrawlers as really huge worms twice the size of my babyaxies. Could give me the scientific name of the worms you are thinking of, please? This makes it easier to look up the german word.

@Darien: That's what I usually do, but the axies just spit them out again.


I'm going to search the garden tomorrow for better tasting worms. Today they feasted on bloodworms again. I have four bags of live bloodworms left, so the axies won't starve.

 

[rachel1]

The trout worms I buy are smaller than the Canadian nightcrawlers, and I would recommend them chopped for juvies. They are eisenia hortensis. The larger "Canadian nightcrawlers" can still be chopped for smaller critters. They are Lumbricus terrestris. Mine seem much more willing to go for either of these species than the red wigglers.

 

[qannp]

Thanks, Rachel! Eisenia hortensis in German is "Rotwurm" which translates literally to "redworm". Confusing.
Lumbricus terrestris is what I call a "Regenwurm" ("rainworm"). I will hunt for these tomorrow.

I have serious issues with chopping the worms. I'd rather search for small ones than cutting them into pieces. I tried once to cut worms, but I couldn't do it.

 

[qannp]

…as usual, it was the most obvious reason: They really just don't like the worms I bought. :uhoh:
Since wednesday they are eating worms that I found in the garden. They LOVE them.

Spoiled little brats.

Thank you all for your advice!